Lies End Marriages
by raynepyke
Summary: Hermione battles a bout of depression but her husband, Draco remains faithful, to their vows and takes care of her. What happens when Hermione pulls the ultimate back stabbing betrayal on him after everything he did for her?
1. Chapter 1

Hermione sat in the middle of her cold house with a cardigan drawn up tightly around her. She sat in silence with hundreds of magical pictures all around her on the floor, but one in particular sat directly in front of her feet, though she refused to look directly at it.

The Battle of Hogwarts had been four years previous, and her marriage was just over three years old; the two things that now gave her the worst nightmares.

For the first year or so after the battle, Hermione grieved like all of the normal witches and wizards, and she moved on when it was appropriate. She often visited the families of the loved ones lost, and still made an attempt to see her two best friends in the world. Life for the first few years was so [i]easy[/i], though back then she would not have agreed, and she was so normal. However, if you fast-forwarded until about a year ago, Hermione started to notice changes in her; changes even her husband, Draco Malfoy, could not see yet. It started with a lack of appetite, then shifted to a cold and numb feeling whenever she thought about May 2nd, 1998. Eventually, Hermione felt herself pulling away from her husband as she felt he could no longer help her, but Draco hung on. He had loved her and pined after her for far too long to let a little depression take his dream away from him now.

Night after night Hermione had terrible, fitful nightmares that awoke Draco, but never once did he complain, but he also cherished the nights where she would let him hold her and rock her back into a better sleep. He brought her coffee in the morning, and tea in the evening, and he never once forgot to tell her that he loved her, but for some reason, it just didn't seem to be enough. Nothing he did could snap Hermione out of the permanent fog she seemed to be in.

The couple had only been married three years, and already Draco wept on the nights his wife slept because he felt like he was losing her, if she hadn't already gone yet. Hot, angry tears often stained his face, and his bright red, puffy eyes in the morning told his co-workers about his tough private times. No matter though, Draco pressed on doing everything he could to make his marriage last.

At six in the evening, the grandfather clock went off suddenly, and Hermione nearly jumped out of her own skin. She knew that in about a half of an hour her husband would be home for the night and a small piece of her knew that she should be excited about his return, but she just couldn't any more. It was almost as if there was nothing left in her anymore. No joy, no happiness and it felt as if her capacity to love had seriously dwindled.

Today though, Hermione felt a little different. As she starred at all of the pictures around her taken during random parts of her life, something inside her softened, especially as she looked at the one by her feet, and she felt more alone than ever before.

For the past year she had spent the majority of her time with her husband wishing him away and cursing him for making her feel bad with his late night tears when he thought she was asleep, but now suddenly she wanted him home, and craved to be wrapped in the arms in silence.

Sighing, Hermione started to clean up the photos around her and put them in a memory box with an enchanted lock only she and Draco knew the indication for. Just about the time she was done cleaning and had dinner in the oven, the telltale click of the lock set her teeth on edge. She tried so hard not to look desperate or impatient waiting, but she couldn't stand to be alone anymore.

"Baby?" Draco called out experimentally into the front hallway. From her position in the kitchen, Hermione had to count to three with breaths before going to him to satisfy some sort of self-dignity she had left. "I'm home, and it smells delicious in here!" Hermione smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around her torso. For the first time in months, she felt butterflies at the prospect of seeing her husband. "I bet I'm going to [i]love[/i] dinner tonight!"

Not being able to contain herself anymore, Hermione flew down the hallway from the kitchen and launched herself at Draco, knocking him back into the front door. As she buried her nose deep into his cloaks, Hermione heard him laugh his throaty melody.

"Now [i]that[/i] was quite the welcome home. Bloody hell, babe, you have no idea how much I've missed this," he mumbled quietly, and hugged his wife so tight in fear of her letting go. Before she could say another word to him and mess this whole moment up, Hermione kept hugging, and kissed Draco hard on the mouth leading him over to the couch where they sat and continued to cuddle.

As she relished the feeling of company and not being so afraid of her own mind, her thoughts wandered to the locked memory box that sat on the coffee table in front of them, and her stomach sank when she remembered what was inside. Feeling guilty, she pushed it off the table with her toe, and tucked it under the couch out of sight. If she didn't have to look at it, then it wasn't real. For now, she would just enjoy the small amount of joy and love she could feel.

Finally, Draco broke the silence.

"So tell me, dear, why the sudden change of heart?" he asked. "You've been in a sad fog, and now you're all running and jumping and cuddling." There was certainly no mistaking the hint of sadness in Draco's voice as he reminisced about the past few months void of an emotion from her. The catch in his throat almost killed Hermione inside. She could see tears in his eyes, and it prompted her own tear ducts, and pulled on her heartstrings. She had put her husband through so much of her self-pity, which she hadn't stopped to think about what it did to him.

"I just love you. I can't live in my own little shell anymore. I need my husband, and I need my marriage to be okay again," she said slowly, and she sucked in a big breath. "I think I just need to feel normal after so long of feeling monstrous."

Draco nodded his head as if he understood, and tightened his grip on Hermione.

"Well, I'm never going to let you go again, so you have no worries by dear Hermie," he whispered in her ear, causing goose bumps to run up and down her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Hermione was pacing up and down the street in front of Purge and Dowse, a muggle store that had been "closed for refurbishing" since as long as the oldest Londoner could remember.

[i]Do I do this? Do I not? Oh, I don't know. Bloody hell this is hard. Draco's ready, I'm not. I just don't have to tell him…[/i].

Upside down and backwards for the last couple of days, Hermione had opted not to tell Draco about the pregnancy she was currently experiencing. This had been the result of her exterior breaking down one night which resulted in a lot of cuddling from her husband, which was followed by a night of love making which landed her here, standing alone in front of the disguised St. Mungo's, trying to decide if she was going to visit a friend of hers that was a healer and could potentially help her out in this situation.

Finally, before she could change her mind and go home to sit around and get fat for the next nine months, Hermione checked to make sure there were no muggles and stepped up to the store front window pane in front of the out of style mannequin.

"Hello, how do you do?" she asked, not looking at the dressed up statue as she pushed herself through the now portal-like window. Just inside the wizarding hospital, many witches and wizards were running around as Peeves had when she had been a student at Hogwarts, and the air was noticeably cooler.

In an attempt not to look too lost or confused, Hermione walked up to the wizarding version of a reception desk and waited until an older witch addressed her.

"Hi," Hermione said sweetly. "I was wondering if Poppy Pomfrey was available right now." Hermione sounded so fake, she thought for sure she was going to choke on it.

"Well, actually, what do you need her for today, love?" the older witch questioned in a friendly way, which prodded Hermione to think on her feet since there was no way she was admitting that she was pregnant to any more people than she already had to.

"Right now I was hoping she could just talk." The nurse nodded her head in an "I'm-following-you" kind of way and flicked through a stack of papers until she apparently found the one she was looking for.

"You're in luck, dear. She's got the next hour free. If you go up the first set of stairs, you come to, make a left at the top of them and then continue until you see her door on the left hand side you'll find her. Room number four-seventy-six, and it'll also have her name on it," the witch said in a comforting voice, and then laid her lightly wrinkled hand on top of one of Hermione's that she had left resting on the top of the desk.

Stunned for a moment at how soft the woman's hand really was, Hermione gaped at it for a moment before jerking it away.

"Yes, thank you," she said in a lightly squeaky voice before turning away and briskly walking to distance to the stairs until she was out of sight so she could let out a large breath of air. After losing so many friends, Hermione wasn't exactly comfortable with physical touching from strangers for the reason that physical contact seemed to be the first step into becoming acquainted with someone.

In no time at all Hermione found the office of the only person she could talk to in this situation, and knocked on the door quickly. The last thing she needed was for someone to recognize her and report to her husband where she had been while he was at work.

Just as the door opened, Hermione slipped inside startling Poppy Pomfrey a little at the intrusion.

"Poppy Pomfrey?" Hermione asked, more out of politeness than anything else. As the now aged healer starred at Hermione with a sense of familiarity, she also nodded her head in answer to the young witch's first question.

"Hermione Granger!" Poppy finally exclaimed and she sat in her chair. "Yes, I distinctly remember you now. Always coming into the hospital wing at Hogwarts because of those two boys, Harry and Ron. Yes, always getting hurt those two were." Hermione blushed a small amount at the mention of Ronald Weasley. Their fling during school hadn't ended well after the Weasley family lost Fred during the battle.

"Err, well yes, that would be me, except I'm Malfoy now; Hermione Malfoy," she stuttered, forgetting about the reputation Draco had had in school until she saw Poppy's eyes widen.

"Really now dear? That's very unexpected! I suppose he must have changed a whole lot since I last seen him for such a bright young witch to marry into that family!" Poppy exclaimed, clapping her hands together once in surprise. "What can I help you with now, dear?"

It took Hermione a minute before she finally looked the woman in the eye.

"Well, actually, I have a bit of a problem," she said, placing her hand on her lower abdomen. "And I didn't know where else to go, and then I remembered you and how you helped out all of those girls while we were still in school…" she trailed off, hoping Poppy would fill in the silence, but for a moment she just starred at Hermione stunned.

"Well," she finally said. " I would have thought that you of all people would have had more sense than to get pregnant while still young, but yes. Let's see, I can help you. I really can. I have an hour. I'm guessing you've talked to your husband about this?"

"Yes," Hermione lied automatically, and held her breath until Poppy smiled and stood up.

"Then, if you would come with me, we can get this done and over with," she said, taking the shaking Hermione by the hand and leading her down the hall to a sterile smelling room with white walls and gleaming medical instruments. At first sight of the room, Hermione felt her head empty of all oxygen as she slumped against the wall she had been standing near and withering to the floor in a graceful and soft fashion thanks to Poppy's magic.


	3. Chapter 3

When Hermione opened her eyes again, she was lying flat on a medical table in a hospital gown that eerily resembled a muggle version. All around her potions, magical instruments, and Poppy's wand littered the room on all flat surfaces.

"Oh good, you've woken up just perfectly. I'm sorry, Hermione, but you're going to be a bit groggy from the pain potion and the sleeping draught I gave you earlier, but everything went just as planned," Poppy said in a soothing, motherly voice until Hermione wrapped her head around what had just taken place. "I know we didn't go into much detail about the process earlier, but now that we're done and not in a big rush, would you like to know?" she asked.

Hermione thought for a moment, as much as she could focus, and truly wondered if she wanted to know what she had just gone through in the process of having her pregnancy terminated. Eventually, after what seemed like a rather large pause, Hermione shook her head in disagreement.

"Just as well then" Poppy said as she gathered up some papers that Hermione needed to sign. "Are you going to be okay to apparate home?"

Just as Hermione grabbed the quill, she remembered that she had to get herself home with her hazy brain. "Yes, I should think so," she whispered to the practiced healer, handing back the papers and quill.

"Well, you are free to leave Miss. Malfoy. I suppose I shall be sending an owl to check up on you in a few days' time," she said in her soft voice.

Nodding, Hermione was done with the idle chitchat, and wandered down to the grand lobby to apparate back to her house in the midst of a small wizarding community.

[line]

That night when Draco returned to his home after work, he found a reclosed Hermione huddled on the couch.

"How's my baby girl doing today?" he asked, wrapping her small frame in a hug.

Though Hermione was comforted in her anxiety by her husband's fresh scent, her throat felt too sore and scratchy to want to reply.

Once she had gotten home, Hermione had sat down and wildly thought about the events that had happened a few days prior to this one. When she had gotten home, all she had done was sit down and mourn the loss of the life inside of her, and on some level, she thought she might have regretted terminating the surprise pregnancy. The guilt of not telling her husband wore down on her as if she had swallowed heavy weights into her stomach.

She had wanted to explain to Draco what was going on prior to her visit at St. Mungo's, but she knew that he would be far too joyed to be a father to think rationally about her feelings and to consider an abortion. In a desperate attempt to avoid an argument or a hasty divorce, Hermione made the decision herself and chose not to tell him at all.

Now, a few days after her cramps had stopped and her bleeding had subsided, but she felt guiltier than ever when Draco hugged her now, or lazily laid one of his hands over her stomach.

Truth be told, Hermione was scared, more scared than she had ever been because her whole relationship was balanced precariously on this one little string of information, and as of right now it was in a very delicate state with Hermione's brain all mussed up with doubt, guilt and the new burning want to confess her sin.

Hermione reminded herself that she had been a Gryffindor though, and as silly as it sounded, she still used her schooling's house as a confidence boost when she needed it. Hermione remembered that Gryffindor's were the brave ones, and knew that she could use this braveness as a great secret keeper, but as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt more like a slightly cowardly Gryffindor with the intentions of a Slytherin.

A few days later, after her internal battle waged on inside of her, Hermione shut her mouth firmly and swallowed her insecurities and demons. In an attempt to move on from the situation, she magically removed the muggle ultra sound picture, and when Draco made it home that night, he walked into the living room to Hermione pointing her own wand at her temple with her eyes closed.

Before he could think, Draco launched himself at her and wrestled the long wooden wand from her surprisingly weak grasp. What he thought he had walked in on was Hermione's attempt to commit suicide via wizardry, but in reality, she was trying to obliviate her own terribly memories from earlier the previous week so she would not have to continue feeling terrible for not telling him.

"What the bloody hell are you doing? Are you out of your mind woman?" Draco yelled, terror still making his heart pump faster than it had in a while. "How could you even [i]think[/i] like that?"

Although deep down, Hermione knew he meant well and was just scared, she couldn't manage the anger that bubbled up inside of her as he continued to yell at her.

"Just [i]stop[/i] yelling at me for Christ's sake!" Hermione yelled back, now picking herself up off the floor. "This isn't what you think, but you know, what most people find their significant other in a vulnerable position like that, they don't just [i]attack[/i] them, Malfoy," she sneered, slipping back into her old habit from their third year without even meaning to, but the hurt on Draco's face was already evident, and she already felt like a terrible person. "Have some manners," she reprimanded him. "Most people treat situations like that delicately and with a little bit of charm, you know."

At this point, Draco was rolling his eyes. He had just walked in on what looked like his wife's suicide attempt and [i]she[/i] was reprimanding [i]him[/i] for not using manners? Bloody hell, he was starting to see that his wife had lost her bloody mind.

"Whatever, Hermione, what the hell was that all about then, hmm?" he questioned, not expecting her to answer him as fast as she did.

"I was trying to obliviate, not kill!" she screeched quickly, desperately trying to get Draco to understand, but his face had fallen once again.

"Why? I mean, what? I don't understand…." He said with a pause. "Does it have something to do with this that intercepted me on my way home?"

Before Hermione realized what the letter was she sneered a nasty "no" at him, completely forgetting that Poppy had promised an owl home to ensure that she was doing well in recovering after the altered abortion.

Draco, needing a break from this headache his loony wife was giving him, opened the letter that was addressed to them both and began to read the most horrifying and betraying thing he ever had.

"Wh-what?" he said in complete disbelief as tears filled his eyes. Sadness and hurt filled Draco's entire body, and tears finally slipped over his eyelids and down his cheeks. It was only then that Hermione realized what he was reading, and she had forgotten all about the checkup owl. "Is this true? Did you- did you actually have an abortion?" he asked.

Caught red handed, all Hermione could do as hang her head and nod it.

"Is that what you were obliviating? You were never going to tell me? I can't believe we didn't talk about this!" he screamed, now infuriated and hurt beyond anything he'd ever felt. His own [i]wife[/i] whom was supposed to love and cherish him had gone behind his back and done something so underhanded and sneaky and downright inhumane to his feelings.

"I'm so sorry, I was so confused and shocked and I didn't really understand what I was doing, I was so scared," she mumbled, her voice catching with unshed tears.

The sneer and scowl Draco gave her said almost everything she imagined him saying, but still, he spoke.

_"__Don't give me that bullshit, Hermione. You knew_ [i]exactly[/i] _what you were doing, and you_ [i]knew[/i] _how I would feel. We're_ [i]married[/i] _for the love of Merlin's Pants!" Draco cried out in rage; the young man had never been quite this angry and betrayed in his entire life._

_"Draco," Hermione sobbed as she crumpled to the floor. "I'm so sorry... So sorry. I just couldn't- I wasn't ready. I'm so numb- so cold all the time. How could I care for something else?"_

_For the first time since he had known and fell in love with the intelligent brunette, Draco felt no sympathy for her, and had no problem stepping over her huddled, sobbing figure on the living room floor and grabbing his jacket to slide on over his button down shirt._

_"I don't care. I cared for you for_ [i]so[/i] _long, even though I felt like breaking, you filthy… Filthy [i]mudblood[/i]. However, I didn't. Want to know why?" he asked, menace lacing every word he spoke, but he didn't wait for her response to continue talking. "Because I fucking_ [i]love[/i] _you, Hermione." Draco paused for a minute as Hermione sat up to face him. At first he felt a pang of regret at using the bile word, but when he looked her mostly emotionless face, all feelings of hatred intensified._

_"I made a terrible mistake, I am so sorry," she whispered._

_"No, you're not sorry. You clearly wanted this. What you're sorry for, is the fact that I found out when you never intended me to," he spat with malice. "I swear to god, I was raised a killer, and right now, I wish so badly that I could turn my wand against you, I can't even believe I believed you back after the war," he screamed. "I just- ugh- [i]oh my god[/i]," he yelled in frustration, and turned to the wall where his fist left a large hole in the drywall. "I'm so [i]fucking[/i] angry. No, I'm beyond angry! I'm betrayed, I'm hurt, I'm stupid for trusting you and marrying you. I am going to leave before I bloody [i]murder[/i] you with my bare hands. At least [i]I[/i] have self-ucking-restraint. I'm going to my parent's house. I don't suppose I'll be back in a very timely manner." Before Hermione could say another word, Draco had spun around and disappeared out the door and slammed it hard behind him. Hermione finally started to break down and sob heart wrenching, loud cries. Draco's screams had finally shocked her system enough for her to look back in hindsight and see what she had done in 20/20 vision. His words had been scaring and they hurt like hot knives being thrust into her heart. They were unmistakable for hate, and she knew he had a right._

What she thought was such a well thought out plan had gone so awry in such a short period by something as little as a letter that she forgot to take and hide.

As she sat there, Hermione thought she could literally feel her heart break, and though it might have been too late, she finally realized how far she had strayed from her true self of being honest, diligent and a very good person.

"I guess lies really do end marriages," Hermione whispered to herself, long after the rattling from the door slamming had stopped.


End file.
